The Imperial Torquay

Outdoor pool closed for refurb

Lack of guidance / information when fire alarm went off twice late in the evening. Duty manager was not effective at all. Muttered to a few guests you can go back in. Left everyone standing around not knowing if it was safe to re enter the hotel.

Staff on duty could have reacted more quickly when the fire alarm went off and should have informed people that at least one person stayed with guests waiting, and that the assembly point sign "moved up into the upper car park", which needs some updating. We should be offered a tea or coffee while standing outside in the cold. All back in and 1/2 hour later again on off on off ....this time give the young skinny lad at least this time told false alarm. If you have internal phones, at least wire them up to give out weather, real or false, as the alarm made me a bit deaf the first time around,
The bed was supposed to be a Deluxe king room with a sea view, but two beds put back-to-back is not very comfortable
Was not happy that a rubber shower mat had been rolled up in a Beach towel that smelled, and I only found that out on departure.
The outdoor pole was shut down- no explanation.
Smoking Areas not told where.
The building could do with a bit bit of a revamp and tidy up all over the site £10 per night for parking on the upper area and £20 in the underground area,, with peps there do they clean your car?
If I can get a pint of orange juice at breakfast, why can't I get a pint of orange juice?

Thought certain areas of hotel looked tired and require a bit of TLC.

Outdoor pool was closed for naintainence and they did not inform via email when we booked our stay, we had booked it only seeing online pictures of Outdoor pool , so it was disappointing :(

No staff at the bar quite frequently.

The windows could only be open a little bit as they were locked and no key provided concern if a fire no escape route. Would have like a fridge and you can ask for one but we found this out too late. The out door pool was not in use and they don’t tell you until you are nearly ready for your stay and they don’t offer a refund either.

No water in the room as usually we have

Being told shortly before our trip that the outside pool was "closed for maintenance" we had booked for the outside pool as it is mentioned in Booking.coms details for the hotel. As we were due to travel shortly and unlikely to get other accommodation, I spoke with the hotel they said it was closed recently for works and that there would be no reduction or recompense as it was only an invitation to use as a guest ???? Speaking to a local resident and member of health club/gym we were told the pool had been closed for over 2 years, We were allocated a room (89) miles from reception and central areas, 2 lifts and long corridors. We have a wheelchair so its difficult with luggage etc. Reception sorted us another room (35) which was ok but not very clean, As a former hotelier, publican and restauranter I was disappointed at the lack of expertise of bar service staff, nice young people but lacking in basic service skills, bar area untidy, never collected glasses or wiped tables in conservatory or lounges, never offered table service. Watched as one guest asked on 3 seperate evenings for lemonade to be told they had none! Had to ask for ice before liquor everytime. No regular brands such as Gordons, bacardi, Disarrano, Fever Tree etc. I could add thousands to turnover here with just a few tweeks. Suffered on our last night, we had booked a table at a local quality restaurant and a taxi to take us there, not told about a school prom taking place which blocked the entrance for nearly 2 hours, we lost our table and had to rebook taxi.

Only ate in the bar once, but was overpriced and not that good.

Lack of air-con in the bedrooms in what was one of the hottest weeks of the year! Bedroom windows only opened slightly, which also didn't help. However, the maintenance team brought us 2 x fans to use. The hotel is slightly dated, but it is still quite grand and the staff and food make up for this.